The South Downs Double

For thousands of years, people have been crossing the South Downs using nothing but the power of
their own two legs. And in all that time, every traveller has been looking for the easiest route:
what's the quickest way over the next hill - around it, over it, or across its flanks? Eventually, out of
all those small, individual decisions a trail emerged, worn into the chalk over countless journeys.

The end result of all those collective decisions and knowledge is the South Downs Way.

Of course, of all those people over all those years, someone's got to have made the quickest
journey, there-and-back. Nowadays, that's going to be someone riding a bike.

200 miles (there and back). 24 hours to do it in. It's that simple.

The history page covers the background to
the Double and explains how it came to be. A special mention must always go to Ian Butler, who is
widely acknowledged as the first person to do the full 200 miles in under 24 hours - thanks for showing
the way, Ian!

August 2014 - Congratulations to Amanda Brooks and Mark Goldie

Congratulations to Amanda Brooks, who rode her way into the SDD record books on 4th August with a
time of 21h 44m and 30s. Riding unsupported, conditions were good until the very end where the
rain came down hard in Winchester. Amanda now holds the crown as the fastest woman of the Double to
date.

Also due our congratulations is Mark Goldie, who rode a sub-20 hour singlespeed double on 17th July. This
is the 2nd fastest singlespeed time, and particularly impressive to witness when he realised he
could get under 20 hours by picking up the pace late in the ride.

27th June 2014 - Ben Sherratt attempting 365 miles in 24 hours

Ben Sherratt, who is one of the few riders to have completed the Double on a singlespeed, has just
started on an epic 365 mile WORLD RECORD challenge for charity. He's aiming for the 48-hour mountain
biking record, and is doing it as promote kid's cycling while raising money to help the Association
for Blind and Partially Sighted People.

Please visit his fundraising page, and if
you're near Brighton over the next couple of days why not go down to Stanmer Park to cheer him on?
You could even ride a couple of laps with him - he'll appreciate the support, especially in the middle
of the night!

Richard Sterry and the first South Downs Triple

Richard Sterry - a previous SDD rider - has really pushed the boat out now with the first ever South Down Triple! That's riding the
entire South Downs Way three times in a row, or doing a 'conventional' Double and following up with riding the whole of
the SDW. Read more about his astonishing feat here.

23rd September 2011 - Josh Ibbett sets new record

We've just heard from Rory (of Upgrade bikes) that Josh Ibbett has set a new record for the Double; from reports the
last 50 miles or so didn't come easy.
Lydia Gould and John from USE were on hand at the finish line,
so more news soon.

19th August 2011 - Kevin Izzard

After years of dreaming and planning, Kevin was all ready to go for it in 2010 - until he was hit by a car.
The injuries he received forced him to postpone for a year, but come June 2011 he was ready and set off
to realise the dream. Pouring rain, headwinds and consequent hypothermia proved too much on this occasion,
but Kevin clearly doesn't give up easily.

Finally, it all came together on the 19th August, and Kevin succeeded in joining the club with a time
of 23:19:39. The ride was not without challenges of its own, and you can read his full account
here on BikeMagic.

30th July 2011 - Ben Amesbury

Despite laying long-term plans for the ride, Ben was unlucky enough to have no fewer than 7 punctures
in the first 70 miles. Many riders would have abandoned at that point, but Ben kept going and finally
completed the ride in 25 hours 55 minutes. A fantastic
effort - and no doubt Ben will keep on thinking about the magic 24 hours!

15th July 2011 - Paul Gibbons

Paul Gibbons of Lewes Wanderers CC originally planned to
ride with a partner, but ended up going it alone. Starting off after midnight in a gale and
suffering 3 punctures, Paul reportedly found time for a "rather tasty ice cold coffee frappe" when
making the turn at Winchester to ease the suffering on the return leg.

You can read Paul's full story in the September 2011 issue of the club magazine, available
here.

12th May 2011 - Darren Slade

Completing the first Double of 2011, Darren Slade battled rain and a strong headwind to
complete the ride in 23:38:21. According to this report from Tim Fiskar,
opening gates became almost impossible as he had no strength left in his arms towards the end!

23rd October 2010 - Alan Velecky joins the club, Alpine style

A keen runner and well-known orienteer, Alan decided to test his legs against the SDD. With more than a year of planning
behind his ride, Alan overcame a damaged tubeless tyre and cold night fog to complete the ride in 23 hours 31 minutes and
53 seconds. Apparently he timed it perfectly, with his lights going flat a minute after completing the ride.

14th July 2010 - Rob Dean smashes the singlespeed record!

Rob Dean decided to have another go at the Double, but this time he fancied making it harder by
using a singlespeed! And guess what? Not only did he smash the old singlespeed record,
he actually went almost an hour and half quicker than he did on his previous geared outing - well
done Rob!

You can read his account of the ride
here on BikeMagic. Riding through a day of 30C heat and a night illuminated by
Exposure Lights, Rob arrived back in Winchester in a
blisteringly quick 18 hours 41 minutes and 59 seconds, which is also the 2nd quickest time overall to boot.

28th June 2010 - the Double Double!

Amazingly, we've just learnt of 2 riders each doing the South Downs Double, picking the same day and time window
to do it in! Unaware of each others progress, it'll be great to know if they spotted each other on the
trail - we'll try and find out and post that in the follow-ups.

It's not yet clear who started first, but Antony Gray started from Eastbourne on the 25th June and set
out for Winchester. On the same day, Ben Sherrat
set off from the slightly-unconventional start-point of Devils Dyke heading for Winchester, then turning back for
Eastbourne and finally turning once again for the run back to Devils dyke.

As they rode through from the 25th into the 26th - which was quite possibly the hottest day of the year so far -
we know Rory Hitchens captured a few pictures of Ben, and Antony has sent us pics from his ride. We'll get more
details online over the next few days, but in the meantime congratulations to both of these riders, especially
as they follow Richard Sterry
in showing their commitment to charity; Ben is a
Bike-It
officer for Sustrans
and completed his ride for Bike Week, while Antony is part of Team Milo2
(he also supports the BHF and the
Tadworth Childrens Trust).

As for the bikes, we hear that Ben opted for a rigid Surly singlespeed while Antony was on a Yeti ASR-C Carbon -
about as different a choice as you can get! Full update on both these amazing rides soon, in the meantime you
can see Antony's tracklogs here and
here, and read Ben's account on
his blog entry.

18th August 2009

On 2nd August 2009, in the early morning hours, Alan Goldsmith set out to attempt the Double. No stranger
to the South Downs Way (and indeed to epic rides, being a successful competitor in the
2009 Tour Divide), he completed the ride in 22h 41m 45s
despite some early mud that added to the challenge. Carrying a
GPS logger to verify his ride, we'll report more details as we receive them.

30th June 2009

After a valiant attempt at the first ever "Winter" South Downs Double earlier in the year, Rob Dean returned
to the trail in rather hotter weather. This time he stormed the ride coming in just under the magic 20 hours, at
19h 59m 13s. Riding a Gary Fisher Superfly and battling 31C heat, a snapped chain and a high speed tumble with
another rider, his report of the ride on BikeMagic
is highly recommended reading.

26th June 2009

At 6pm today, Richard Sterry set off to attempt to complete
the South Downs double for charity, in aid of the BHF. We've also heard that
two other riders also set off to complete the ride a couple of hours earlier, aiming to ride from Eastbourne to
Winchester, register for the BHF Randonee, and then ride back to Eastbourne! More coverage
over at Bikemagic, as always.

News 28th May 2009 - Steve Heading (re)joins the SDD Club

Steve Heading - who previously rode a shorter version of the Double route back in the early 1990's - returned
to set a personal best of 20 hours 36 minutes and 11 second on 26th May 2009. Starting from Winchester at midnight
and riding through heavy rain overnight and into the morning, his time is still the 3rd fastest to date and an
astonishing acheivement given the conditions. More info about his ride in
this BikeMagic story.

Ian is also well-known as the course designer for the 2008 G2 Revolver
event and the upcoming 2009 Brighton Big Dog.

News 28th February 2009 - Rob Dean attempts first Winter Double

Rob Dean has made a valiant attempt at the first ever Winter Double. Despite the challenging conditions,
he completed the ride one-way in impressive time, but sadly had to bail out on the return leg. The full details
are available here on Bikemagic
and in the associated forum thread.

News 27th September 2008 - Mike Cotty sets new outright record

On 26th September 2008, Mike Cotty - a previous record holder on the South Downs Double - recaptured his
crown with a time of 19h 52m 26s, the first sub-20 hour time and riding Alpine-style to boot! There is an
initial report of his ride online at Bikemagic.

Lydia Gould has just completed her attempt to become the fastest female rider on the South Downs Double,
and succeed in doing so despite challenging conditions. Starting on Thursday at 9:00pm her ride spanned a
total of 3 days, ending just after midnight on Saturday for a final time of 27h 26m 54s.

News 21st August 2008 - George Budd/Sharon Laws ride report

Back in 2006, Sharon Laws (Team GB) and George Budd (Salsa Factory Racing) rode the South Downs Way both ways,
supported by Thetford MTB, in around 30 hours. George has sent in a report and
photos of their ride - one of the pictures shows an unusual choice of bikes!

News 26th July 2008 - Neil Newell achieves first Singlespeed Double

On 22nd July 2008 Neil Newell set out to attempt the South Downs Double on a rigid singlespeed, and completed
the ride in 23 hours 20 minutes 32 seconds. More on Bikemagic
here and
here.

News 28th May 2008

We've collected a bunch of interesting and informative links about the South Downs Way on
this page - if you have any others you think should be featured,
please let us know via the feedback page - thanks.

News 21st May 08 - Read about Rob's ride, in his own words

News 8th May 08 - Rob Lee smashes record, and how!

Rob Lee, leader of the elite IronHorse Extreme endurance team,
has broken the record - and entirely unsupported to boot! He carried absolutely everything he needed
bar water (which he got from public taps along the way), and carried every last food wrapper and bit of rubbish back with him.
You can read more about his ride on this page - during his ride it reported
his current position along with the latest pictures in real time, and has several links where you can find out
more about his extraordinary ride. His final time was 20h 55m 51s, and there has been a good deal of media coverage as a
result - see the links here for a selection.

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